---

It should be mentionned that this method applies to Server 2003 retail, and not the VLK version which doesn't require activation.

 

Hi,

I have been trying the latest way of installing mce on server 2003 where its a mixture of the chris method and other things i follow the guide where you change the registry entry SystemPrefix to make server 2003 think its mce but this does not work as when I reboot I get the blue screen saying SYSTEM_LICENCE_VIOLATION anyone know what I could be doing wrong.

 

Ady.

I just made a modification to my post above. I had previously said it only applied to XP retail, when it should have read "Server 2003".

Are you using Server 2003 VLK? If so, you can't change the system prefix. The alternative is to mod ehshell.exe as per my instructions.

That would be better, but as VMWare or MS-VPC do not virtualize the TV-tuner there is no way to run MCE as a VM

I got another question.

I installed Win2k3 and i have an IDE and a SATA150 HD.

After installing the SATA drivers and when i use explorer to go on the SATA disk then my CPU load goes from 1% to 80% does anyone know what the problem is?

please mail me on daviddayone@hotmail.com if u got a solution.. thx

 

Could you give some details on how you got this working?  The version of the extender that I have for the xbox is reliant on uPnP, which I didn't think you could get working under 2k3.  I can bodge the app to actually install, but the service won't start due to uPnP missing

Here is a slightly different way. This method even claims to work on x64!

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=61070

Bionicman:

I used this method & installed flawlessly. Only one mistake inthe instructions. When making the folder directory you should add an 'ehome' folder to the Windows folder containing 'custsat.dll'

No having to patch 'ehsell.exe'. Rollup 2 & all updates installed.

Have a look!  http://dotchris.net/?p=21

 

and

Sir_Pyro:

Ok, I managed to mix this info with some other stuff, and came up with a way to install straight from the CD! I'm not really sure who all I need to give credit to for each little bit of this script (it's thrown together based off all the ones I've seen) but thank you to every one that I got bits of it from. Now you can upgrade any XP computer without ever having to install MCE fresh.

Follow the instructions on this site about how to make the computer think it is MCE using BartPE.  http://dotchris.net/?p=21

You will also need the .Net 1.1 SKD installed and use wfpadmin to unprotect all the operating system files.

The script is the attached Install_cd.txt file, change it into a .bat. The MCE.txt is the .reg file every one is using, so change that to at .reg.

 I've teted this on two XP Pro computers, and it works just fine. You'll need CD1 at first for the files off it, and then CD2 when you start installing every thing.

Hope this helps some people.

Both contain links to my old site...

My dotChris site is no more...  Go the the link below instead...

http://sa-mce.com/blogs/sa_mce_community_blog/articles/242.aspx

Cheers

---

My Blog | South African MCE Community | Xbox Bloggers

This whole process is weird to me.. I am curious to know if  1) recording to the server would be possible? and 2) Will any Media Center Extender be able to read and play the files the were recorded to the server?

Ok,  I've got Media Center 2005 up and running on Windows 2003 Enterperise Release 2 perfectly including EVERY button on my MCE 2005 OEM Remote.  I'm going to make a complete webpage with a guide to make everything easy.  I've even taken the install script that was posted here and advanced it even further.  I'll post back when the webpage is up.

-Kelxin

Kelxin:

Ok,  I've got Media Center 2005 up and running on Windows 2003 Enterperise Release 2 perfectly including EVERY button on my MCE 2005 OEM Remote.  I'm going to make a complete webpage with a guide to make everything easy.  I've even taken the install script that was posted here and advanced it even further.  I'll post back when the webpage is up.

-Kelxin

Any news on the webpage and install script O:)

Tried getting MCE2K5 to run on my freshly installed 2K3 server last night, but I kinda messed up. Now it won't get past the login script and says something about serial/key not matching.

Think the problem lies within the FPS not being properly turned off, since eventvwr showed some dll files that were rolled back. And when I tried to register most dll's, several failed...?

I used a simple registery trick, which was listed for XP, but this didn't seem to work.

Anyway, found out I was missing several patches aswell. So gonna try again today. :)

Here's the batch file that I'm using at the moment and is working perfectly (you will have to run it a couple times with reboots in between, but its smart enough to figure out whats installed and whats not)

Batch file i.e. install.bat :

 

rem Install .NET Framework 1.0 if needed
If NOT EXIST "%systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ngen.exe" call :InstallFramework

rem Permanently disable Windows file Protection
if NOT EXIST "%systemroot%\system32\sfcfiles.bak" call :disableSFC

rem install Mpeg Decoder
if NOT EXIST "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\ForceWare\nStant Media\nStantMedia.exe" call :Installdecoder

rem Copy Needed Files
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

rem Register DLLs
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

rem Install MCE
rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf

rem Install Add-Ons - unrem these to have it install everything for you
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusTheme 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusSpac 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusGold 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDavn 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusNatr 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusMpix 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDancer 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusParty 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusAudio 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusCDLM 128 plusoc.inf

rem Copy Needed Files Again
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

rem Register DLLs Again
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

rem Run MCE
%systemroot%\eHome\ehShell.exe

exit

:InstallFramework
Framewrk\1.0.3705.0.exe /Q

return

:disableSFC

rem Setup Registry
regedit /s Registry\MCE.reg
regedit /s Registry\DisableWPF.reg

copy sfcfiles0.dll %systemroot%\System32
copy %systemroot%\System32\sfcfiles.dll %systemroot%\System32\sfcfiles.bak
REM copy install.bat "c:\documents and settings\all users\start menu\programs\startup\"
rundll32 sfcfiles0 Install

exit

:InstallDecoder

decoder\keygen.exe
decoder\1.02-177.exe

exit

DisableWPF.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"SFCDisable"=dword:ffffff9d

MCE.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\MedCtrUpg]
"IsLegacyMCE"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\MediaCenter]
"Installed"="1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PIDRange]
"SKURange"="EHome"

 

Turge:

Here is my setup:

---

Folder structure:

¦   Install.bat
¦   mediactr.cab
¦   plus.cab
¦   sonic.cab
+---Copy Files
¦   +---Windows
¦       +---Inf
¦       ¦       medctroc.inf (extracted from
¦       ¦       plusoc.inf
¦       ¦       sonic.inf
¦       ¦       sysoc.inf
¦       +---System32
¦           ¦   ehOCGen.dll
¦           ¦   encdec.dll
¦           ¦   medctroc.dll
¦           ¦   mpeg2data.ax
¦           ¦   msvidctl.dll
¦           ¦   plusoc.dll
¦           ¦   quartz.dll
¦           ¦   sbe.dll
¦           ¦   sbeio.dll
¦           ¦   vbicodec.ax
¦           ¦   wstpager.ax
¦           ¦   wstrenderer.ax
¦           ¦   wstrendr.ax
¦           +---CatRoot
¦               +---{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}
¦                        mediactr.cat
¦                        plus.cat
¦                        sonic.cat
+---ehShell backup
¦       ehshell.exe
+---Framewrk
¦       1.0.3705.0.exe
+---Registry
¦       MCE.reg
+---Tools
        sn.exe (from SDK, see below)

---

Contents of install.bat:

rem Install .NET Framework 1.0 if needed
If NOT EXIST "%systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ngen.exe" call :InstallFramework

rem Copy Needed Files
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

rem Register DLLs
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

rem Set Path

rem Install MCE
rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf

rem Install Add-Ons
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusTheme 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusSpac 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusGold 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDavn 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusNatr 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusMpix 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusDancer 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusParty 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusAudio 128 plusoc.inf
rem rundll32 syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction PlusCDLM 128 plusoc.inf

rem Copy Needed Files Again
xcopy /E /I /Y /H "Copy Files\Windows" %systemroot%

rem Register DLLs Again
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\eHome\custsat.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\encdec.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\msvidctl.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\quartz.dll
regsvr32 /s %systemroot%\System32\sbe.dll

Rem Backup Original ehShell
ren %systemroot%\ehome\ehshell.exe *.bak

rem Copy Patched ehShell
copy "ehShell Backup\ehshell.exe" %systemroot%\ehome

Tools\sn -Vl
Tools\sn -Vr *

rem Setup Registry
regedit /s Registry\MCE.reg

rem Run MCE
%systemroot%\eHome\ehShell.exe

exit

:InstallFramework
Framewrk\1.0.3705.0.exe /Q

---

Contents of MCE.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Applications]
@=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Categories]
@=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Entry Points]
@=""

---

ehShell.exe:

1. Install Framework 1.0 SDK
2. Run "C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\FrameworkSDK\Bin\ildasm.exe"
3. Open ehshell.exe from mediactr.cab. Go to File > Dump and in the options dialog that appears afterwards make sure only 'Dump IL Code' and 'Expand try/catch' checkboxes are checked.
4. Open ehshell.il in notepad and replace true in line "IL_001e: brtrue.s IL_002d" to false. Save it
5. Delete ehshell.res and replace it with ehshell.res in the attachment below
6. Open a command prompt and switch to the folder where you decompiled ehshell to
7. Recompile it using "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ilasm.exe /resource:ehshell.res /exe ehshell.il"
   

Credits go out to Cactus, Raphael and tmksnyder.

 

 

 

Where you say this: 5. Delete ehshell.res and replace it with ehshell.res in the attachment below.

Ok where the heck is this attachement?  I don't see any attached file.  Anyone have this?

 

Hello,

My Windows 2003 server doesn't have SP1. When I run rundll32 "syssetup,SetupInfObjectInstallAction Freestyle 128 medctroc.inf", it jusy says Installation Failed. Remember, I don't have SP1 installed. Could this be the issue? I have the .net framework installed, version 1.0.3705. Is there any way to get around this without having SP1 insatalled? Also, I have the corperate version of 2003, not the activation version.

Thanks.

Jonathan